I have always loved sketching and watching our Southern Ground hornbills in the Save Valley Conservancy and Gonarezhou National Park, and my head is even more full of Ground hornbills these last few weeks!
I have been bumping into flights of them wherever I go in this gorgeous thick bush, and every morning as the sun rises, their sonorous, booming calls beckon me out of sleep. Just this morning, I sat on our front verandah and saw two of them fly across the far mopani tree line, and even at that distance their white and black wings bounced out of all the green foliage in the early morning light.
Lin Barrie, Hornbills I, acrylic on loose canvas, 104 x 179 cm ……
Two weeks ago I stopped and watched a flock of five, our local troop that hangs out around our house, the four adults harassed by a demanding juvenile with grey throat pouch and plaintive voice, “Feed me, feed me, please!” They all flew up right in front of me against a backdrop of steel grey rainclouds, late afternoon sun shining on the white translucence of their wings, and their red pouches flashing…..
An inspiration to paint, and the fact that they keep flying for me wherever I am seeing them, suggests that I need to think “flight” in my painting – abstract black and red against steel blue grey grounds…
Even describing this to you makes me want to rush into my studio and get out my palette knife!
Lin Barrie
The Save Valley Conservancy stretches along the upper reaches of the great Save River in the south east of Zimbabwe. The Gonarezhou National Park laps against the southern banks of the Save River and between these two nestles the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. These three celebrated wildlife areas form part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, (GLTFCA)- a unique wilderness jewel which is home to the “Big Five” (endangered Black and White rhinos, elephants, buffalo, lion, leopard) and the ”Little Six” (Klipspringer, Suni, Duiker, Steenbok, Sharpe's Grysbok and Oribi). Endangered African wild dogs, Cheetah, Brown hyena, Bat-eared foxes and a host of special birds and plants contribute to the immense variety of this ecosystem. Communities around the GLTFCA contribute to innovative partnerships with National Parks and the private sector, forming a sound base on which to manage social, economic and environmental issues.
This is home to artist and writer Lin Barrie and her life partner, conservationist Clive Stockil.
Expressing her hopes, fears and love for this special ecosystem with oil paints on canvas, Lin Barrie believes that the essence of a landscape, person or animal, can only truly be captured by direct observation.
Lin Barrie states: “Through my art, and my writing, I feel an intimate connection with the natural world, and from my extensive field sketches of wild animals, people and landscapes, I create larger works on canvas.
Lin's work is in various public and private collections in South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Australia, England, Canada, Sweden and the United States of America. She is represented by galleries in South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Kenya and Florida, USA.
wine and wild dogs 